25 Facts About Brian Mawhinney

Brian Mawhinney was a member of the Cabinet from 1994 to 1997 and a member of Parliament from 1979 to 2005.

Brian Mawhinney's family was heavily involved with an Open Brethren church.

Brian Mawhinney was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and studied physics at Queen's University Belfast, gaining an upper second class degree in 1963.

Brian Mawhinney then began studying for a doctorate from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London.

Brian Mawhinney obtained his PhD in 1969, with thesis title Studies on the effects of radiation on mammalian bone grown in vitro.

Brian Mawhinney worked as assistant professor of radiation research at the University of Iowa from 1968 to 1970 and then returned to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine as a lecturer from 1970 to 1984.

Brian Mawhinney joined the Conservative Party shortly after his return to England.

Brian Mawhinney contested Stockton-on-Tees in October 1974 but lost to Labour incumbent, Bill Rodgers.

Brian Mawhinney was elected Member of Parliament for Peterborough in the 1979 election, serving until 1997.

Brian Mawhinney was then MP for North West Cambridgeshire from 1997 to 2005.

Brian Mawhinney was a social conservative who opposed abortion and Sunday trading.

Brian Mawhinney was PPS to John Wakeham from 1982 to 1983, and PPS to Tom King from 1984 to 1986.

Brian Mawhinney became a junior minister at the Northern Ireland Office in 1986, and then became Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office in 1990.

Brian Mawhinney served as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio for two years from 1995 until the 1997 election.

Brian Mawhinney was knighted in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.

Brian Mawhinney served as Shadow Home Secretary and spokesman for home, constitutional and legal affairs for a year under William Hague before returning to the back benches in June 1998.

Brian Mawhinney stepped down from the House of Commons in April 2005.

Lord Brian Mawhinney questioned the priority David Cameron had given to the Marriage Act 2013, stating that it was a distraction.

Brian Mawhinney took leave of absence from the House of Lords in October 2017 for health reasons.

Deeply religious, Brian Mawhinney was a leading member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship as well as a member of the Church of England General Synod for five years.

Brian Mawhinney was a patron of Peterborough United until his death in November 2019.

In 1964, Brian Mawhinney married Betty Oja, an American citizen whom he met during his time in Michigan; the couple had three children.

Brian Mawhinney wrote two autobiographies: In the Firing Line and Just a Simple Belfast Boy.

Brian Mawhinney lived in Chipping Barnet, and then Keyston, Cambridgeshire in his later years.

Brian Mawhinney died at a nursing home in nearby Polebrook, Northamptonshire, on 9 November 2019, aged 79.